3 Reasons I Have No Problem With Michael Hyatt

I've read a couple of bloggers out there lately that are doing some drastic maintenance to their Twitter accounts. Deleting ALL their followers and starting over! Michael Hyatt (Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers) is one of them. The man has had over 110,000 people he was following on Twitter! I barely have 500, and I'm ok with that. I also admire Michael and the following that he has been able to build through a lot of work! I LOVE what he shares on a daily basis on his many varied subjects. I've never met him, and even if I had (at a conference etc...), I know enough about these kinds of leaders to respect the fact that they are human beings just like us and can only do and respond to so much; as such, I can not expect him to really know me just because I follow him on Twitter! In fact, many of Michael's posts relate to learning to prioritize your life and learning to say no to the wrong activities to remain open for the things we need to stay open to. So... It should come as no surprise that he and others like him are cleaning up followings that quite frankly SPAM the heck out of these guys.

Here's the big 3.

1. Quality Content. Period! I'm not sure what it is, but Michael, flat out, has some of the best Stuff in Blogdom! His is the only blog that I literally read every day.

2. Consistently Useful Information. I've learned and applied more from his blog than any book I've read. I feel like Michael is my personal mentor without ever having met the man. That's a powerful writer who seems to know my next quest for knowledge!

3. Character. You don't lead a company successfully or find areas in your life needing change without character. Michael surprises me how even with his successes, he has the humility to continue to find and implement what he needs to go to the next level! Best of all, he shares that with his audience. As I write this, his automated unfollow feature for Twitter has him down to 95K, and I'm still in that number. That will change in a day or two, and that's ok :-), I plan on still leaning all I can from him and others like him!

3 Lessons Learned From Sailing

Today marked the maiden voyage of my son, Steve's new (to him) sailboat, Ubiquitous. What a great day. Up to now, for the last 5 weeks we've made weekly trips down to make sure it was still floating, run the engine to charge the batteries, so that it continued to run the bilge, to keep the boat afloat. I even spent the night aboard on one trip. But, owning a boat, and sleeping on it are not why you buy one. (Even though Steve bought it as his dorm room : ), that's another story.

Here's what we experienced today!

1. The power of combining or opposing forces!

While motoring with the inboard diesel, we discovered that when you run with the current, it adds 4 or 5 knots/hr to you speed! We gain so much momentum when we join forces with others. Look for ways to join with others where you can. While under sail today, we discovered that while we seemed to be doing 5 knots, our gps showed our speed was zero! The current was enough against us that it made our progress null! Ever have those days (months or years) when you worked hard, thought things were going great, only to discover that your progress was unraveling?! Check your gps! Another perspective is often needed to get an accurate read on your progress.

2. Communication is key!

Friends of ours helped us sail today, Rogor and Debbie are veteran sailors and when they spoke, we listened. Years of hands-on experience communicated practically made today SO enjoyable. Communcation done right can make even a menial task fun! On a boat, there are rules and things that need to be done a certain way, to keep that enjoyment from turning into disaster. How we communicate makes all the difference! Clear, concise instructions, follow up to check for understanding are elements of good comminication.

3. Someone has to be in charge!

Rogor was our skipper today. Debbie was the first mate. Steve and I were crew. We didn't draw straws, we didn't vote. We did what Rogor felt comfortable doing today and traveling as far as he thought we should. Rogor called the shots, taught us navigation, right of way, channel marker identification. Debbie taught us ropes, lines, knots, sheets, mainsails, gibs, reefing, and more! We and our organizations do well when there is strong leadership. Rogor and Debbie, like good leaders, realize that if they keep all that knowledge to themselves, we wouldn't progress as well and they would have a bored crew, which often leads to mutiny : - ) Taking the time to teach and lead brought vast enjoyment to the day! Good leadership is good for everyone!

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